The invention relates to a kitchen appliance comprising a container and a housing accommodating an electric motor, said container having a bottom, a removable lid, a bearing for supporting a tool which is drivable in the container by the motor, and a filter which is placeable in the container around the tool.
The invention further relates to a container which is suitable for use in a kitchen appliance according to the invention.
The invention also relates to a filter which is suitable for use in the container of a kitchen appliance according to the invention.
A kitchen appliance of the kind mentioned in the opening paragraph is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,021. The known kitchen appliance is an electrical blender, the container of the known kitchen appliance comprising a mixing chamber which is secured to a blender base. The tool of the known kitchen appliance comprises a number of blender blades and is rotatably journalled in the blender base. The filter of the known kitchen appliance comprises a cylindrical chamber which is open at both ends and has strainer openings about a portion of its circumference. A bottom end of the filter comprises a mounting base attachment by means of which the filter can be attached to a mounting base of the container which is attached to the blender base. In the embodiment shown in the patent, the mounting base and the mounting base attachment comprise threads which are mutually attachable. When the filter is attached to the mounting base, the filter is completely contained in the mixing chamber of the container and encloses the tool. Items such as fruits or vegetables are then placed in the chamber of the filter and an open top end of the filter is closed with a lid. When the known kitchen appliance is activated, the tool chops or cuts the items into solid pieces and produces a liquid. The liquid passes through the strainer openings of the filter and can subsequently be poured out of the container.
A disadvantage of the known kitchen appliance is that the filter used therein can be attached to the container by a user of the appliance only with difficulty. In order to attach the filter to the container, the user has to bring the filter into the container through the open top end of the container and fasten the mounting base attachment of the filter to the mounting base of the container, which is present near the bottom of the container, while holding the filter through the open top end of the container.